raptor Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 @R2D2 don't diss BIGPAL he is just relating his experience to the other forum users. He knows what he has done and paid for it. It is good that he has informed everyone of his situation some people take alot longer before comming to terms with what has happened. You are saying you don't push the envelope when flying. That you always fly a set sized kite in a set wind speed. The fun in flying a kite is learning to fly a kite in a stronger wind. The trying again with a bigger kite. @Bigal keep up with the physio and a quick recovery. Quote
Ted Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 Raptor - I agree. Bigal is being very open and sharing his experience will help many others - and not just newbies. He should be respected for that. Knowing the details of conditions he experienced and precautions others take are part of that. We all make mistakes and should learn from ours and those of others. My last screw up was in October when I flew at Westbury after 3 hours of sitting around waiting for the winds to die down and started anyway, resulting in a good slam. M - If you are on the East coast with SW winds then you might consider sites that have clean aspect winds to the SW as you know. Those might be beach or grass sites depending on the terrain. A wind meter obviously only works if ground conditions bear a linear or predictable relationship to the airmass the kite experiences above it. In those conditions it can also (but not always) provide a guide to launch wind speed and gust range. By far the most useful indicator for gusts is XCweather.co.uk (which is free). Also, I forgot to mention that gusts are often associated with weather fronts which one can often see approaching. If there is a line if clouds arriving or in the summer, thunderhead, tall clouds. Assume a gust may could hit. Even on low wind days a change from say 9mph to 18mph can create a loft-and-drop situation. Just my opinion. Ted Quote
r2d2 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 i fly inland and have to contend with similar conditions..my rule of thumb is to fly a kite that is'nt overpowered by the strongest gust..not an exact science i know..if i get to the field and it's 12mph gusting 20..i use a kite that i can handle in 20mph wind. ok..maybe that might sound boring but at least it's safe(ish).. Quote
Ted Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 i think that is an excellent rule. Many inland site are not gusty, or gusty or turbulant conditions appear only with certain directions. I have about four boarding sites I can get to and each works in for a different wind direction. The only direction I can't find a site for here is East. My rule seems to be that if gusts are more than about 30% of the predominant windspeed I don't fly. With my 18m Guerrilla on land I need to be more conservative than that because it has a smaller usable windrange than the Frenzy like all big kites. For any power kite capable of traction or jumping gusting much more than about 30% is too dangerous in IMHO. The major bone break incidents nearly always associated with gusting. Ted Quote
r2d2 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 al..i am in no way trying to rub your nose in what has happened to you. all i am saying is that if we don't observe a few basic rules..as mentioned by myself and also ted..what happened to you is no big surprise. all the sympathy you're getting from people won't help you or anyone else reading this thread who is'nt aware or has'nt considered the weather before flying..what attracted my attention to the thread was the way you used about 5 exclamation marks after blade and warned people about flying this kite. at least you've got a good story to tell the grandchildren....i dislocated my shoulder and ended up in hospital chasing large bubbles on a really windy day...how stupid do you think that made me feel..?could'nt fly a kite for 8 weeks or more. main thing is that you recover. Quote
conor Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 st andrews usually has quite good clean wind , on that day the wind was more variable than gusty (i waas jumping on a mountain board with my blade and it was a bit weird but not dangerous for me) bigal was on the beach with the tide quite high the wind on the beach can be more gusty than the grass. Quote
Mal1599968600 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 it was a bit weird but not dangerous for me Im a bit up the road and it may not have been exactly the same but there was a sudden change during the day here to a cold dense arctic air flow. The usual wierd mixture of- kite speed slows but pull increases and a bit of very sudden luffing with slow re-inflation going on. Quote
Bug Eyes Posted January 9, 2005 Report Posted January 9, 2005 al...i dislocated my shoulder and ended up in hospital chasing large bubbles on a really windy day...how stupid do you think that made me feel..?could'nt fly a kite for 8 weeks or more. main thing is that you recover. those large bubble chasers are crazy... you should only chase bubbles when supervised by a responsible adult and there is no way you should chase large bubbles on a windy day! just count yourself lucky you're still here to tell the story Quote
Tweak Head Posted January 9, 2005 Report Posted January 9, 2005 Excuse my ignorance but what is "chasing bubbles"? Quote
r2d2 Posted January 9, 2005 Report Posted January 9, 2005 the story goes like this..there were a few hippy dudes in the park that day with a childs bubble making machine..it was too windy for the little bubble machine..so..being an expert on wind..i put down my kite and went over to them to inform them that it was too windy for the little bubbles..i suggested that one of them remove his boot laces and tie them together to form a big loop and also pour the bubble solution into their frizbee..now they could dip the big loop into the bubble solution and when you opened it out into the wind..presto..10foot bubbles that would fly across the park in the wind..i ended up chasing one..as you do..and just as it was about to pop..i thought it would be a good idea to dive through it....i was running full speed after it at the time...bad idea..landing was crap. hospitalized...also the hippies had to pack my kite away for me..:-( Quote
Bug Eyes Posted January 9, 2005 Report Posted January 9, 2005 unlucky, i suppose the moral of the story is: 'stay away from hippies on very windy days' Quote
Bug Eyes Posted January 9, 2005 Report Posted January 9, 2005 unlucky, i suppose the moral of the story is: 'stay away from hippies on very windy days' the story goes like this..there were a few hippy dudes in the park that day with a childs bubble making machine..it was too windy for the little bubble machine..so..being an expert on wind..i put down my kite and went over to them to inform them that it was too windy for the little bubbles..i suggested that one of them remove his boot laces and tie them together to form a big loop and also pour the bubble solution into their frizbee..now they could dip the big loop into the bubble solution and when you opened it out into the wind..presto..10foot bubbles that would fly across the park in the wind..i ended up chasing one..as you do..and just as it was about to pop..i thought it would be a good idea to dive through it....i was running full speed after it at the time...bad idea..landing was crap. hospitalized...also the hippies had to pack my kite away for me..:-( Quote
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